Hospital Mortality Rates

Chris Williamson Excerpts

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I agree with that. One reason why it is so important to reform the regulatory structures that we inherited is that they tried to identify only poor care—not terribly successfully—when we need a system that identifies outstanding care as well. We need such a system for the benefit of the general reputation of the NHS and the morale of the service. We also need one so that a failing hospital can have an organisation on which it can model itself, just as a failing school can model itself on a school that has received an outstanding Ofsted report. That provides a solution to the problem: we identify a problem transparently and we sort it out.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State said that he was proud of the NHS, yet he and his Ministers have supported a top-down reorganisation of the national health service that will lead to 49% privatisation and cut 4,000 nurses. We know from the Francis report that staffing levels are key to the whole agenda, and the Secretary of State has just said he acknowledges that, so will he reinstate the 4,000 nurses he has cut from the NHS?

[Mr Hunt]

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would like to acknowledge that more money has gone to the front line as a result of the reorganisation that this Government have introduced. We have 8,000 more clinical staff now than when the Labour Government were in office.